The Greatest Story Ever Told?

Movies pull emotional responses out of us. They play with our conscious and subconscious. They make us feel empathy, fear, and joy. They activate the spiritual part of our being. Like movies, our emotional responses to a source are equally essential to religion. As such, movies and religion play in a similar field. I admit that there are a lot of bad religious movies. These are usually done by Christian production companies that explicitly plan to push the messaging of the church to their audience through film. Still, I love well-crafted religious movies because they give us amazing visuals, grandeur, and thought-provoking themes.

In the Western world, it feels like the church has lost a lot of credibility over many disgusting scandals. I think religious movies are shunned because people no longer want to associate with religion. With its scandals, patriarchy, misogyny, and every other damning word that it can absorb, why should young audiences care about religious tales?

Even outside of the religious perspective, I think that the three movies in this article have significant merit as cinematic achievements. Each deals with a different aspect and era of Judeo-Christian religion, yet they all provide stunning images, epic scale, and meditative philosophy. Through these movies, you'll see why they called the 1950s the Golden Age of Hollywood, one of the most metal movies ever created, and a master director tackle heady topics with swift precision and unapologetic brutality.

The Ten Commandments

If there is one movie that perfectly encapsulates the Golden Age of Hollywood, it is The Ten Commandments. At the time, it was the most expensive movie ever made. This film revels in practical effects, legions of extras, and knockout performances from its supporting cast.

Commandments is three and a half hours of unrelenting epicness. The scale of the sets, by modern standards, is absurd. The opening shot of the Israelites in bondage pulling a colossal stone pharoah across the desert sets the tone for the movie's scale and Cecil B. DeMille, the film's director, never lets go of his commitment to grandeur. From the raising of an obelisk to the Israelites marching out of Egypt, every set is massive and pretentious.

Some of its scenes, like when the river water turns to blood or the parting of the sea, are the pinnacle of the practical-effects art form. They are a testament of what is possible even without the assistance of computer-generated imagery. I think my favourite practical effects in this movie come from DeMille's insistence on portraying God through smoke and clouds. I love the subtly of the hail storm forming in the distance as Moses issues a warning to Pharoah, or the darkening of the clouds as Moses prepares to part the sea.

I also adore the use of colour in this film. The blues are especially vibrant. It is the colour of Ramses, played by the show-stealing Yul Brynner, who is almost exclusively draped in royal blue. I also love the plethora of colour that accompanies the exodus of the Israelites and their hedonistic party under the golden calf.

Because of the practical effects and the explosion of colours, I recommend watching this epic at night. And, if the three-and-a-half hour runtime feels daunting, I suggest starting at the intermission. It is after the intermission that Moses returns to Egypt to free the Israelites and the stunning visuals really pick up.

This movie makes me feel a great deal of joy. I am passionate about this era of Hollywood and this movie displays everything that was great about it. I find the visuals so stunning that I continue to return to this movie year after year simply to bask in its cinematic glory.

The Passion of the Christ

One of the most controversial movies of all time. Mel Gibson's passion project. That sentence alone is a red flag. Throw in all the claims that this movie is antisemitic and you have a proper mix of controversy. To address the antisemitic claims is to engage in an argument that has continued since the days when this story took place. I will leave it to the viewers to make their own judgements.

The Passion of the Christ is metal. The flagellation scene is painfully scarring. The closeup of the Romans hammering stakes into Jesus's hands and feet left me wincing. Add on demons, litres of blood, and all sorts of insanity, and you have a movie that would fit right at home next to the albums of Slayer and Exodus.

Of these three directors, Gibson is the most unskilled. Still, The Passion is visually stunning, if only for the pulpy portrayal of Jesus. I especially liked the judgement of Jesus sequence, with Pontius Pilate (played by Hristo Shopov) trying to decide what to do with this prophet while also trying to understand why the crowd wants him dead so badly. Another scene that sticks out to me is when Jesus dies on the cross, and either God unleashes his anger or Jesus's spirit exits his bodily form. Whatever is happening, the earth shaking and the old church splitting in two are poignant visuals.

This is not a movie for the faint of heart. Watching Jesus suffer while hearing his teachings provides a stark contrast between words and action. It's also the most Easter story of these three movies, despite it also being the most graphically violent. If you have it on your watchlist, this weekend is the time to watch.

Be warned: It is emotionally draining. Although beautiful in its own way, there's no doubt that it is challenging. I find it vicious and, at times, confusing. Still, its use of symbolism and metaphor is enough to bring me back for rewatches, so long as I'm not feeling too squeamish.

Silence

When the greatest director of all time, and a deeply religious person, directs a religious epic, it is unforgettable. Maybe I'm biased, because I'm a major fan of Martin Scorsese, but whether you like him or not, there's no denying the poignancy of Silence.

Just like The Passion, Silence is a very intense watch. It's not as bloody, but when it gets to its intense moments, it is unrelenting. That's one of the many reasons why I love Scorsese. He doesn't water things down for the audience or act like he has moral high ground. He gives it to us straight and has us make our own conclusions. That leads to some scenes in Silence that are very hard to watch.

Of the three movies on this list, this is the most critical of the Christian religion. This story exposes the fundamental futility of teaching a religion to a group of people that have no foundation on which this religion can grow. Add on the large language barrier and a strict government that vehemently wants to keep Christianity out of their land, and it makes missionary work look meaningless.

Outside of the scenes that are hard to watch, Silence is cinematically gorgeous. I especially like the scenes where the two missionaries (played by Adam Driver and Andrew Garfield) are hiding on a mountainside and, later, when Garfield is captured by the Japanese. I can tell that Scorsese was inspired by DeMille through his use of fog and clouds. Just like DeMille used smoke and cloud to portray the spirit of God in Commandments, so too does Scorsese use cloud and fog to, maybe not necessarily portray the spirit of God, but possibly to provide a veil between the missionaries and God.

Confronting these topics and themes is challenging. Personally, I want to look at these controversial topics and draw my own conclusions. I want to see how I will respond to these visual stimuli. In the end, I hope, I'll gain a better understanding of who humans are, what causes us to do the things we do, and what I can learn to become a better person. At the same time, I challenge myself to face these daunting topics in order to see how I will react. As my favourite poet T.S. Eliot wrote, there is "no place of grace for those who avoid the face."

This Easter, if you find yourself in moments of silence looking for a movie that will help you meditate on the nature of our existence, then look no further than these movies. Hopefully you'll realize that The Ten Commandments, The Passion of the Christ, and Silence are actually amazing films, from a purely cinematic perspective, and not some propaganda that are trying to convert you. They are spiritual journeys with deft visuals. They tell stories that work as metaphors rather than facts.

All the best, and Happy Easter.